18/12/2013 14:37
'Syrian and Somali doctors' shot dead near Mogadishu
Three Syrian doctors and their Somali colleague have been shot dead in an ambush near Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, witnesses have told the BBC.
Gunmen opened fire on their car as they travelled towards a health clinic, the eyewitnesses said.
Two of their bodyguards were also killed in the attack, while another Syrian and Somali doctor were seriously wounded, they said.
Many militias and criminal gangs operate in Somalia.
In recent years, the country has also been hit by an insurgency waged by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group.
However, it did not carry out the attack, an unnamed senior official of the group told the AFP news agency.
The Syrian doctors were believed to be in Somalia as aid workers.
The BBC's Mohamed Moalimu reports from Mogadishu that the ambush took place in Siinka Dheer, a government-controlled district about 20km (13 miles) south of the capital.
The gunmen escaped after firing indiscriminately at the vehicle, eyewitnesses told him.
The two wounded doctors are receiving emergency treatment at Mogadishu's Medina Hospital.
The bodies of the six people killed in the attack have also been brought to the hospital.